I was looking for a new mower for my lawn and suddenly stumbled upon hover mowers, they have a lot of advantages over the traditional mowers, and so I thought of doing more research, and here is what I found about the benefits of hover mowers.
Hover mowers are easy to maneuver thanks to their lightweight construction and the design of how they cut grass. They are easy to assemble and use, even for amateurs. Hover mower works great for lawns with slopes and also works effectively on wet soil and uneven terrain.
With rapid advancements in technology, power tools have become more powerful and innovative. They work in ways we could hardly imagine 50 years ago. One such product that amazed me was the hover mower. Its unique technology made me wonder if hover mowers are of any good to us.
Out of curiosity, I decided to try my hand at operating a hover mower myself. I also did some research about the various aspects of this machine, which helped me understand it better. I can confidently assure you that I can give you a clear answer to the question, what are the benefits of hover mowers compared to traditional mowers?
A hover mower essentially floats over the lawn while the blade within cuts the grass. The hovering properties allow you to maneuver easily around obstacles, corners with curves, and small lawns with ease. This is further assisted by the lightweight materials used in its design, which allows it to float.
A hover mower is simple to assemble from its packaging, as it does not have too many complex parts or systems that need special skills to put together. It also does not have wheels and does not require the user to mow in a single direction, making it easier to use.
If you have sloped lawns, this mower helps you cut across these slopes more evenly as the floating mechanism ensures your mower stays planted to the surface despite the incline. On uneven terrain, the hovering mechanism ensures that the blade remains fixed even if the surface is uneven. Over wet soil, you will not have to worry about the weight of this mower as it is light enough to work without sinking into the soil.
Overall, hover mowers are great if you are looking for a way to maintain small lawns with curves, obstacles, and rounded edges. The mower also helps you get a more even cut along slopes.
Read on as I discuss more hover lawnmowers, including how they work. I will also talk about the hover mower that really impressed me when I was using it. I will discuss some features and pros as well as cons about the product.
By the end of this article, I hope you have enough information to help you decide if a hover mower is a right fit for you.
Disclosure: Some of the links below may be affiliate links.
What is a hover lawnmower?
A hover mower is a type of mower that creates a cushion of air between the surface of the lawn and the mower’s blades. And because of the air cushion, it can be very easy to move around especially if you have a sloped lawn, and they only come in electric as well as in gas-powered versions.
The hover lawnmower was invented in 1964, which helped solve the problem of traditional rotary mowers being unidirectional. Hover mowers are usually circular in shape and are usually electrically powered to make them light enough to allow them to hover above the lawn.
How do hover lawn mowers work?
Hover mowers have a rotating cutting blade, which results in a downdraft being produced. This blade is driven by an electric motor or by a gas-powered small engine, and the resulting hover eliminates the need for wheels. And this mechanism makes them very easy to use.
Just like other lawnmowers, hover lawn mowers have a cutting blade that rotates to help remove grass from the lawn. However, the motion of the blade creates a downdraft by pushing air into the ground. If the air is sufficiently trapped, it will create enough pressure to lift the blade as well as the bottom of the frame a few inches off the ground, allowing the lawnmower to hover.
— Also read: Will Mowing Wet Grass Ruin a Lawn Mower?
The hovering motion is further aided by an electric motor, which is lighter and compact compared to traditional gas-based motors. It also eliminates the need for a gas tank, which makes the overall mower much lighter.
As a result of the hovering motion, the mower no longer needs wheels to be moved across the lawn. This also helps resolve the issue of directionality, as the mower can hover in any direction without affecting how evenly the grass is cut.
And some hover lawn mowers come with a compartment to collect all the grass which has been cut down, and so it doesn’t make a mess. You can watch this video below to understand how a hover mower works.
What is the Best Hover Mower to buy?
I personally enjoyed my experience with the Flymo Easi Glide 300 Electric Hover Collect Lawn Mower. It has a great design, while the features complemented my user experience very well. This is why it is my personal favorite.
Here are the features that caught my attention. This hover mower is not available on Amazon.com, but you can check it out on the official website’s product page.
- This hover mower from Flymo comes with a 20L grass box that allows for the efficient collection of grass clippings. The box has a small window to monitor how much of the box is filled. It is also very easy to clean the box when required.
- The design is lightweight at 18.7 lbs, allowing you to maneuver the mower easily on your gardens. The 40ft power cable ensures users can easily cover most areas of their small and medium-sized lawns.
- It comes assembled in the packaging, allowing the user to plug into a power source and use it without having to assemble any mechanisms on their own.
- The 30cm cutting blade is powered by a 1300W electric motor, allowing the user to get a clean and even cut on most surfaces without too much of a hassle.
Pros
- Lightweight construction allows for easy handling and setup
- The long power cable of 40ft, covers a medium-sized garden with ease
- 20-liter grass box, easy to remove grass from within
Cons
- Doesn’t perform well on thin and sharply curved edges, close-cut situations as well as lawns with long grass
- Blade adjustment takes time
- Wet grass collection is not great
Will a hover mower cut long grass?
Yes, a hover mower is capable of cutting long grass. However, multiple users do not recommend the same, as the results were not satisfactory. The longer the grass is, the more difficult it is for the blades to cut the grass efficiently.
As a result, the motor must be able to spin the blades faster to help it gain the required power. However, electric motors may not be able to achieve this efficiently due to their smaller size and compact design. As a result, you will not be able to cut the long grass evenly across the lawn.
— Also read: How to store Electric Lawn Mower for Winter?
As a result, having a hover mower will force you to mow your lawn more frequently than you may intend to, which might prove cumbersome to those with extremely busy work schedules.
You may also have difficulties when it comes to collecting clippings produced by the long grass, as the hover mowers do not have great grass collecting facilities. I found a small video in which a kid is operating a gas-powered hover mower, and you can also watch it how easy it is to use.
Do hover mowers collect grass?
Yes, most hover mowers have a vacuum system to collect grass. However, fine clippings may not be collected. But there are some affordable hover lawnmowers that don’t collect the grass.
The vacuum system equipped with most hover lawnmowers sucks the grass clippings from the base of the grass box. However, some of the finer clippings are recycled back onto the lawn to replenish the soil with the required compost.
Due to the high speed of the rotating blades, there is also a chance that the fine clippings might get blown away. This issue gets much worse when you are getting wet grass, which can then make quite the mess on your lawn. As a result, the overall collection of hover mowers is not as efficient as that in rotary mowers.